Ramayanaof valmiki and kamban-aranyakanda-7. Panchavati and arrival of Surpanakh

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7. Panchavati and Arrival of Surpanakha

 

When Rama reached Panchavati he told Lakshmana to choose a place that will suit them all, to build a hermitage. The reply of Lakshmana was classic in its meaning implying his dasathva to Rama. He said,

 

paravaan asmi kaakutstha tvayi varsha Satam sThithe

svayam tu ruchire deSe kriyataam iti maam vadha

 

I am your dependent even if it is for 100years and you command me choosing a place yourself. Valmiki says that Lakshmana said this in front of Seetha, seethasamaksham.

 

The implication of this verse is as follows:

Lakshmana was the incarnation of Adhisesha who is the sesha of the Lord always. As such he wanted to be His servant and awaits His command. Sesha means a dependent who belongs to his seshi, who is free to use the sesha to suit his pleasure. Lakshmana exhibits his total dedication without any individual identity. He did not even declare himself as a devotee who might have his own wish to do what pleases the Lord our of volition. Lakshmana wished only the kainkarya bhava to both the Lord and Lakshmi who is the purushakarabhootha, the one who secures the favour of the Lord. The word kimkara means the one who asks "what should I do?,kim karishye?' So it is the master who tells the kinkara what to do.

 

In the place chosen by Rama Lakshman built a wonderful cottage and Valmiki describes its construction in detail. When Rama saw the cottage he embraced Laskshmana , saying, `preetho asmi the mahath karma thvayaa krtham arindhama; pradheyo yannimittham the parishvango mayaa krthaH.'

" I am pleased with your great deed, oh destroyer of foes, for that reason I have to give you my embrace."

What Rama meant was , so long he has seen only the valour of Lakshmana but now he has witnessed a totally different skill which deserves nothing less than an embrace. In a similar instance when Rama came to know that Anjaneya has seen Seetha he gave his embrace to Anjaneya, which was equal to giving himself. That is the same idea here. Then Rama told Lakshmana that he felt as though his father had never left him. `bhaavajnena krthajnena dharmajnena cha lakshmaNa ; thvayaa puthreNa Dharmaathmaa na samvrtthaH pithaa mama.' Praising Lakshmana as a bhaavajana , one who knows the feelings of others as he had built the cottage as Rama would have wished it, a krthajna, one who knew the skill of doing a thing and dharmajna, one who knows what is right, Rama said that it was as though his father had come alive.

 

Thus they lived in Panchavati for three years. Then in the month of Chaithra one day when Rama was with Lakshmana and Seetha a rakshasi came there accidentally. The word yadhrccchayaa, used in the sense of `by chance' by Valmiki denotes that all important happenings are by accident only like that of the climbing on the place tower by Manthara which was a turning point of the story and hence it was not yadhrccha but eesvara icchaa, the will of the Lord. Similarly here the advent of Surpanakha is another turning point of the story, again by divine will, that would lead to the destruction of Ravana , which was the purpose of the incarnation.